Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Lady Slipper Ride, Out and Back: Kanc and Bear Notch 10:00 am

Thursday, June 8th, 2017

June?? Really??  More like April lately!  

BUT....I gather that we will be happily biking in June weather this Thursday!! Excellent!!

Lets do something slightly different... 

Lady Slipper Orchids, Waterfalls and 2 Covered Bridges. Sounds good!

Let's go up the Kanc along the Swift River, head past Lower Falls and Rocky Gorge. We turn right on to Bear Notch Road and head up as far as you like. The goal is to head up past the gate and enjoy the typically beautiful display of Lady Slipper Orchids along the right side of the road. They are blooming in various areas in the valley and I am hoping we hit them perfectly on Bear Notch Road. Head to the summit of Bear Notch Road, otherwise just go as far up as you like.

Our return will be that great downhill on Bear Notch and the Kanc to the Albany Covered Bridge. We can stop to regroup at Rocky Gorge for a lunch break ...IN THE SUNSHINE!!!   Return to Conway via Passaconaway Road.

It is not easy now to get group parking in Conway Village. I was told that our typical starting point at the Saco Ranger Station is posted for no parking!  We also have been shooed away from the parking lot behind the bank. Let's try a new idea and see how this works.


Meet at the parking lot on Route 16 at the ShurFine and NH Liquor Store Plaza. If we park at the ShurFine end, away from the front of the store, we should be OK, and we can access the road that goes over the Saco Covered Bridge directly by a back driveway. We then ride into Conway Village and then take the right turn up the Kanc. A bathroom stop at the Ranger Station might be required (also to check to see about that parking limitation).

Meet at the ShurFine parking lot, ready to ride at 10:00 am. Bring a snack or lunch.

Distance: about 26 miles, longer if you climb to the summit of Bear Notch.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

That was fun for my first ride, really. I did 15.5 miles total and ended up turning at the Passaconaway Bridge and came back to the Sure Fine lot. I have dubbed this the Ride of the Monarchs due to the amount of butterflies. I need to add you in my phone contacts Marianne. And thank you for waiting.

Unknown said...

Thank you for waiting for me! I turned at the Passaconaway Bridge and headed back to the Sure Fine. 16 miles was not bad for my 1st go! Thank you Marianne, I look forward to the next ride. I also posted on the